Battery case and electronic price indicator including the same

ABSTRACT

A battery case includes: a first battery accommodating portion accommodating at least one first battery; a second battery accommodating portion arranged apart from the first battery accommodating portion and accommodating at least one second battery serially connected with the at least one first battery; a rail arranged between the first battery accommodating portion and the second battery accommodating portion; and a structure configured to move along the rail between the first battery accommodating portion and the second battery accommodating portion and prevent contact between same terminals of the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery at a point at which the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery touch each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119to Korean Patent Applications Nos. 10-2021-0055954, filed on Apr. 29,2021, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and 10-2022-0030333,filed on Mar. 10, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

One or more embodiments relate to a battery case and an electronic priceindicator including the same, and more particularly, to a battery casefor preventing contact between same terminals due to incorrect insertionof a battery and an electronic price indicator including the batterycase.

2. Description of the Related Art

To display and sell many products in a predetermined space, such as adistribution market, etc., labels for displaying product information,such as selling prices, sales information, places of origin, etc., areused.

Previously, paper labels with product information printed on paper in astandardized form were mainly used. However, in the case of paperlabels, when product information such as prices is changed, correctionof the product information or replacement of the paper labels by newpaper labels is needed. Thus, in a large distribution market, etc. wherethere are a large number of products and where changes in the productinformation frequently occur, the need for a replacement means for thepaper labels has emerged.

Recently, as the means for replacing the paper labels, an electronicprice indicator using a method of receiving product information from aserver and outputting the product information received from the serverthrough a display has been proposed. Such an electronic price indicatoris able to quickly and simply change the product information, and thus,research and development into electronic price indicators has graduallyincreased.

SUMMARY

An electronic price indicator may operate to display product informationthrough a display, and thus, for the operation of the electronic priceindicator, a power portion to supply electricity to the display isessential.

Generally, as the power portion, the electronic price indicator usesAA-sized or AAA-sized batteries that are serially connected. However,when at least one of the batteries is inserted in a wrong direction dueto a mistake or carelessness of a user, safety incidents may occur. Forexample, when at least one battery is incorrectly inserted into abattery case of the electronic price indicator, and same terminals ofthe batteries contact each other, safety incidents such as fire mayoccur due to overheating, or damage to the electronic price indicatormay occur.

According to various embodiments, a battery case for preventing contactbetween same terminals due to incorrect insertion of a battery and anelectronic price indicator including the battery case are provided, andthus, safety incidents and damage to the electronic price indicatorcaused by incorrect insertion of a battery, may be prevented.

The objectives to be solved by embodiments are not limited to theobjectives described above, and the tasks that are not mentioned may beclearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from thespecification and the accompanying drawings.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.

According to one or more embodiments, a battery case includes: a firstbattery accommodating portion accommodating at least one first battery;a second battery accommodating portion arranged apart from the firstbattery accommodating portion and accommodating at least one secondbattery serially connected with the at least one first battery; a railarranged between the first battery accommodating portion and the secondbattery accommodating portion; and a structure configured to move alongthe rail between the first battery accommodating portion and the secondbattery accommodating portion and prevent contact between same terminalsof the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery ata point at which the at least one first battery and the at least onesecond battery touch each other.

The rail may be arranged to connect a point of the first batteryaccommodating portion with a point of the second battery accommodatingportion.

The first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion may have a first height, and the rail may have asecond height that is less than the first height, so that there may be astep difference between the rail and the first and second batteryaccommodating portions.

The first and second battery accommodating portions and the rail mayhave a same height.

The structure may include: a first portion configured to slidingly movealong the rail; and a second portion protruding from an area of thefirst portion and configured to prevent contact between same terminalsof the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery.

The first battery accommodating portion, the rail, and the secondbattery accommodating portion may be integral with one another.

The rail may include a groove extending along a side wall of the batterycase.

The structure may include a protrusion accommodated in the groove, andwith the protrusion of the structure slidingly moving along the groove,the structure may move between the first battery accommodating portionand the second battery accommodating portion.

The structure may be arranged to not interfere with contact between afirst terminal of the at least one first battery and a second terminalof the at least one second battery, the second terminal being oppositeto the first terminal.

The structure may include at least one curved area at the point at whichthe at least one first battery and the at least one second battery toucheach other, and the first terminal of the at least one first battery maycontact the second terminal of the at least one second battery throughthe at least one curved area.

The second battery accommodating portion may include a rib structureconfigured to prevent incorrect insertion of the at least one secondbattery.

According to one or more embodiments, an electronic price indicatorincludes: a housing; a display arranged on an outer circumferentialsurface of the housing and configured to display visual information; anda battery case arranged on at least one area of the housing andaccommodating a battery for supplying power to the display, wherein thebattery case includes: a first battery accommodating portionaccommodating at least one first battery; a second battery accommodatingportion arranged apart from the first battery accommodating portion andaccommodating at least one second battery serially connected with the atleast one first battery; a rail arranged between the first batteryaccommodating portion and the second battery accommodating portion; anda structure configured to move along the rail between the first batteryaccommodating portion and the second battery accommodating portion andconfigured to prevent contact between same terminals of the at least onefirst battery and the at least one second battery at a point at whichthe at least one first battery and the at least one second battery toucheach other.

The first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion may have a first height, and the rail may have asecond height that is less than the first height, so that there may be astep difference between the rail and the first and second batteryaccommodating portions.

The structure may include: a first portion configured to slidingly movealong the rail; and a second portion protruding from an area of thefirst portion and configured to prevent contact between same terminalsof the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery.

The second portion may be arranged to not interfere with contact betweena first terminal of the at least one first battery and a second terminalof the at least one second battery, the second terminal being oppositeto the first terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic price indicator accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a battery case of an electronic priceindicator according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an area of the electronic price indicatorillustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the electronic priceindicator of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a battery isproperly inserted into a battery case of an electronic price indicator,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a battery isincorrectly inserted into a battery case of an electronic priceindicator, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a battery case of an electronic priceindicator according to another embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an area of the electronic price indicatorillustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a battery case of an electronic priceindicator according to another embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the electronic priceindicator illustrated in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the presentembodiments may have different forms and should not be construed asbeing limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, theembodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, toexplain aspects of the present description. As used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” whenpreceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and donot modify the individual elements of the list.

With respect to the terms used to describe the various embodiments,general terms which are currently and widely used are selected inconsideration of functions of structural elements in the variousembodiments of the disclosure. However, meanings of the terms can bechanged according to intention, a judicial precedence, the appearance ofnew technology, and the like. Thus, the terms used herein should bedefined not based on the names thereof but based on the meanings thereofand the whole context of the disclosure. Throughout the specification,it will be understood that when an element is referred to as “including”another element, the element may further include other elements unlessmentioned otherwise.

In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word“comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” will beunderstood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not theexclusion of any other elements. In addition, the terms “-er”, “-or”,and “module” described in the specification mean units for processing atleast one function and operation and can be implemented by hardwarecomponents or software components and combinations thereof.

As used in this specification, when an expression, such as “at leastone,” is laid before arranged components, the expression does not modifyeach of the arranged components, but modifies all of the components. Forexample, the expression “at least one of a, b, and c” shall beinterpreted to include “a,” “b,” “c,” “a and b,” “a and c,” “b and c,”or “a, b, and c.”

Hereinafter, the disclosure will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsof the disclosure are shown such that one of ordinary skill in the artmay easily work the disclosure. The disclosure may be implemented in aform in which electronic price indicators according to variousembodiments may be realized or various different forms and is notlimited to the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic price indicator 10according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic price indicator 10 according to anembodiment may be arranged or coupled to a product display stand in adistribution place and may display information about a product(hereinafter, “product information”). For example, the electronic priceindicator 10 may receive the product information from a server (notshown) and may visually display the product information received fromthe server and provide the product information to a user. The electronicprice indicator 10 may also be referred to as an electronic shelf label(ESL) or an electronic information label (EIL) according to anembodiment.

According to an embodiment, the electronic price indicator 10 mayinclude a housing 100 and a display 110.

The housing 100 may form the general exterior of the electronic priceindicator 10, and components of the electronic price indicator 10 may bearranged in an inner space of the housing 100. For example, a printedcircuit board (not shown) including a processor for controllingoperations of the electronic price indicator 10, a communication module(not shown) for wireless communication with a server, and/or a battery(not shown) may be arranged in the inner space of the housing 100.However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the housing 100 may generally have arectangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 1. However, the shape of thehousing 100 is not limited to the shape illustrated according to anembodiment. According to another embodiment, the housing 100 may have apolygonal cylindrical shape, rather than a rectangular shape.

The display 110 may be arranged such that at least an area thereof isexposed to an outer circumferential surface of the housing 100 and mayoutput visual information. For example, the display 110 may outputproduct information received from a server, but the display 10 is notlimited thereto. In this disclosure, the “product information” mayinclude at least one of a product price, a manufacturer, a place ororigin, sales information, and identification information (e.g., abarcode or a QR code), and the corresponding expression may have thesame meaning, hereinafter.

The display 110 may output the product information by using powersupplied from a battery accommodated in the inner space of the housing100. Hereinafter, a structure of the inner space of the housing 100 foraccommodating the battery is described by referring to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a battery case 200 of an electronicprice indicator 10 according to an embodiment. Here, FIG. 2 illustratesthe battery case 200, a battery cover of which is removed.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic price indicator 10 (for example, theelectronic price indicator 10 of FIG. 1) according to an embodiment mayinclude a housing 100 (for example, the housing 100 of FIG. 1) and thebattery case 200 for accommodating batteries that are serially connectedwith each other. At least one of components of the electronic priceindicator 10 according to an embodiment may be the same or substantiallythe same as at least one of components of the electronic price indicator10 illustrated in FIG. 1, and hereinafter, the same descriptions are notgiven.

The battery case 200 may be disposed in an inner space of the housing100 and may accommodate at least one battery for supplying power to thecomponents of the electronic price indicator 10. For example, thebattery case 200 may be arranged in an area of the housing 100 that isthe opposite to an area of the housing, in which a display (for example,the display 110 of FIG. 1) is arranged, and may accommodate at least onebattery. However, the battery case 200 is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the battery case 200 may include a firstbattery accommodating portion 210, a second battery accommodatingportion 220, a rail 230, and a structure 240.

The first battery accommodating portion 210 may be disposed in an areaof the battery case 200 and may accommodate at least one first battery.For example, the first battery accommodating portion 210 may be formedto have a shape having a curvature corresponding to an outercircumferential surface of a battery and may accommodate the at leastone first battery.

The second battery accommodating portion 220 may be disposed in anotherarea of the battery case 200 that is apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 by a predetermined distance and mayaccommodate at least one second battery, which is serially connectedwith the at least one first battery. For example, the second batteryaccommodating portion 220 may be apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 in a longitudinal direction, and as a result,an empty space may be formed between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion 220.

In this disclosure, a “predetermined distance” may denote a distanceallowing the at least one first battery accommodated in the firstbattery accommodating portion 210 and the at least one second batteryaccommodated in the second battery accommodating portion 220 to beserially connected with each other, and the corresponding expression mayhave the same meaning, hereinafter. Also, in this disclosure, the atleast one first battery and the at least one second battery may includeAA batteries or AAA batteries, but they are not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the second battery accommodating portion 220may include a rib structure 221 for preventing incorrect insertion ofthe at least one second battery. The rib structure 221 may protrude froman area of the second battery accommodating portion 220 and may preventthe at least one second battery from being inserted in an oppositedirection. For example, the rib structure 221 may protrude from thesecond battery accommodating portion 220 and may allow contact between aterminal of the second battery accommodating portion 220 and a firstterminal (for example, a positive (+) terminal) of the at least onesecond battery but may prevent contact between the terminal of thesecond battery accommodating portion 220 and a second terminal (forexample, a negative (−) terminal) of the at least one second battery.

In this disclosure, the “first terminal” may denote the positive (+)terminal of the battery, which is a protruding terminal, and the “secondterminal” may denote the negative (−) terminal of the battery, which isa flat terminal. These expressions may have the same meaning,hereinafter.

The rail 230 may be disposed between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion 220 and mayconnect a point of the first battery accommodating portion 210 with apoint of the second battery accommodating portion 220. For example, therail 230 may extend from a point of the first battery accommodatingportion 210 to a point of the second battery accommodating portion 220in a longitudinal direction of the battery case 200 and may connect thefirst battery accommodating portion 210 with the second batteryaccommodating portion 220.

According to an embodiment, the first battery accommodating portion 210,the second battery accommodating portion 220, and the rail 230 may beintegrally formed with one another, but they are not limited thereto.

Along the rail 230, the structure 240 may move between the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion220 and may prevent contact between same terminals (or matchingterminal) of the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery. For example, when the at least one first battery isaccommodated in the first battery accommodating portion 210, and the atleast one second battery is accommodated in the second batteryaccommodating portion 220, the structure 240 may be disposed at a pointat which the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery touch each other, and may prevent contact between same terminalsof the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery.

When the at least one first battery and/or the at least one secondbattery are/is incorrectly inserted, and the same terminals of the atleast one first battery and the at least one second battery contact eachother, fire may occur due to overheating, or the electronic priceindicator 10 may have mal-function or may be damaged.

According to the electronic price indicator 10 according to anembodiment, when the at least one first battery and/or the at least onesecond battery are/is incorrectly inserted, the structure 240 mayprevent contact between same terminals thereof, and thus, safetyincidents or damage to the electronic price indicator 10, due toincorrect insertion of the batteries, may be prevented.

Also, the electronic price indicator 10 according to an embodiment mayprevent contact between the same terminals of batteries, regardless ofsizes of the batteries. For example, there may be slight differences inthe sizes of batteries, depending on each battery manufacturer. In thiscase, when the structure 240 is fixed in the battery case 200, the sizeor the structure of the structure 240 may have to be changed, accordingto the sizes of the batteries. However, according to the electronicprice indicator 10 according to an embodiment, the structure 240 maymove along the rail 230, and thus, even when the sizes of the batteriesare changed, the structure 240 may prevent contact between sameterminals of the batteries, without its size and structure beingchanged.

Hereinafter, structures of the rail 230 and the structure 240 aredescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an area of the electronic price indicator10 illustrated in FIG. 2. Here, FIG. 3 illustrates an area of thebattery case 200 of the electronic price indicator 10 of FIG. 2, thearea being peripheral to the structure 240, and hereinafter, the samedescriptions are not given.

Referring to FIG. 3, a structure 240 (for example, the structure 240 ofFIG. 2) of a battery case 200 (for example, the battery case 200 of FIG.2) may move along a rail 230 (for example, the rail 230 of FIG. 2), andwhen at least one first battery or at least one second battery isincorrectly inserted, the structure 240 may prevent contact between sameterminals of the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery.

According to an embodiment, the structure 240 may include a firstportion 241 configured to slidingly move along the rail 230 and a secondportion 242 configured to protrude from an area of the first portion 241and prevent contact between same terminals of the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery.

The first portion 241 may be movably coupled to the rail 230, and mayslidingly move between the first battery accommodating portion 210 andthe second battery accommodating portion 220 when the at least one firstbattery is accommodated in the first battery accommodating portion 210,or the at least one second battery is accommodated in the second batteryaccommodating portion 220.

According to an embodiment, an area of the first portion 241, the areacontacting the at least one first battery and/or the at least one secondbattery, may have a shape having a predetermined curvature, and as aresult, the at least one first battery and/or the at least one secondbattery may be accommodated in the first battery accommodating portion210 and/or the at least one second battery accommodating portion 220without being interrupted by the first portion 241.

The second portion 242 may protrude from an area of the first portion241 and may prevent contact between same terminals of the at least onefirst battery and the at least one second battery when the at least onefirst battery and/or the at least one second battery are/is incorrectlyinserted For example, the second portion 242 may be disposed at a pointat which the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery touch each other and may prevent contact between a secondterminal (for example, a negative (−) terminal) of the at least onesecond battery and a second terminal of the at least one first battery.

The structure 240 may be arranged to prevent contact between the sameterminals of the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery and to not interfere with contact between a first terminal ofthe at least one first battery and the second terminal of the at leastone second battery, which is the opposite to a first terminal of the atleast one second battery.

According to an embodiment, the second portion 242 of the structure 240may include curved areas 242 a and 242 b formed at the point at whichthe at least one first battery and the at least one second battery toucheach other. In this disclosure, the “curved areas 242 a and 242 b” maydenote areas of the second portion 242 that are filleted so that thefirst terminal of the at least one first battery and the second terminalof the at least one second battery may be serially connected with eachother, and the corresponding expression may have the same meaning,hereinafter.

The curved areas 242 a and 242 b may be disposed at an area at which thefirst terminal of the at least one first battery and the second terminalof the at least one second battery touch each other, and the firstterminal of the at least one first battery and the second terminal ofthe at least one second battery may contact each other through thecurved areas 242 a and 242 b.

That is, by having the structure described above, the structure 240 maynot interfere with serial connection between the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery when the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery are inserted in a normaldirection.

According to an embodiment, a step difference s may be formed betweenthe first battery accommodating portion 210 and/or the second batteryaccommodating portion 220 and the rail 230. For example, the firstbattery accommodating portion 210 and/or the second batteryaccommodating portion 220 may be formed to have a first height based onthe battery case 200, and the rail 230 may be formed to have a secondheight, which is less than the first height, and thus, the stepdifference s may be formed between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 and/or the second battery accommodating portion 220 and therail 230.

Because of the step difference s described above, the first portion 241of the structure 240 may have the same height as the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and/or the second battery accommodatingportion 220 or may have a relatively less height than the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and/or the second battery accommodatingportion 220.

For example, when the first portion 241 of the structure 240 has arelatively greater height than the first battery accommodating portion210 and/or the second battery accommodating portion 220, accommodationof the at least one first battery or the at least one second battery maybe interrupted or interfered with by the first portion 241 of thestructure 240.

Because the electronic price indicator 10 according to an embodiment mayhave the step difference s between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 or the second battery accommodating portion 220 and the rail230, the at least one first battery or the at least one second batterymay not get caught in the structure 240 and may be accommodated in thefirst battery accommodating portion 210 or the second batteryaccommodating portion 220.

That is, through the structure described above, the electronic priceindicator 10 according to an embodiment may not interrupt (or interferewith) the accommodation of the at least one first battery or the atleast one second battery in the first battery accommodating portion 210or the second battery accommodating portion 220 and may prevent contactbetween same terminals of the at least one first battery and the atleast one second battery.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the electronic price indicator 10illustrated in FIG. 2, taken in a transverse direction. That is, FIG. 4is a cross-sectional view of the electronic price indicator 10illustrated in FIG. 2, taken in an A-A′ direction.

Referring to FIG. 4, an electronic price indicator 10 (for example, theelectronic price indicator 10 of FIG. 2) according to an embodiment mayinclude a housing 100 (for example, the housing 100 of FIG. 2) and abattery case 200 (for example, the battery case 200 of FIG. 2) disposedin an inner space of the housing 100. At least one of components of theelectronic price indicator 10 according to an embodiment may be the sameor substantially the same as at least one of components of theelectronic price indicator 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 and/or FIG. 3, andhereinafter, the same descriptions are not given.

The battery case 200 may include a rail 230 (for example, the rail 230of FIGS. 2 and 3) and a structure 240 (for example, the structure 240 ofFIGS. 2 and 3) configured to slidingly move and prevent contact betweensame terminals of at least one first battery 11 and at least one secondbattery (not shown).

According to an embodiment, the structure 240 may include a firstportion 241 (for example, the first portion 241 of FIG. 3) movablycoupled to the rail 230 and a second portion 242 (for example, thesecond portion 242 of FIG. 3) protruding from an area of the firstportion 241 and disposed at a point at which the at least one firstbattery 11 and the at least one second battery touch each other.

The first portion 241 of the structure 240 may be movably coupled to therail 230, and when the at least one first battery 11 is accommodated ina first battery accommodating portion 210 (e.g., the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 of FIGS. 2 and 3) or the at least one secondbattery is accommodated in a second battery accommodating portion (notshown) (for example, the second battery accommodating portion 220 ofFIGS. 2 and 3), may slidingly move between the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion.

According to an embodiment, an area of the first portion 241, the areacontacting the at least one first battery 11 and/or the at least onesecond battery, may be formed to have a predetermined curvature. Forexample, the area of the first portion 241, the area contacting the atleast one first battery 11 and/or the at least one second battery, mayhave a shape having a curvature corresponding to an outercircumferential surface of the at least one first battery 11. Based onthis structure of the first portion 241 described above, the at leastone first battery 11 and/or the at least one second battery may beaccommodated in the first battery accommodating portion 210 and/or thesecond battery accommodating portion without being interfered with orinterrupted by the first portion 241.

The second portion 242 of the structure 240 may protrude from a centralarea of the first portion 241 in a longitudinal direction of the firstportion 241 and may prevent contact between same terminals of the atleast one first battery 11 and the at least one second battery. Forexample, the second portion 242 may be disposed at a point at which theat least one first battery 11 and the at least one second battery toucheach other, and when the at least one first battery 11 is incorrectlyinserted, the second portion 242 may prevent contact between a secondterminal of the at least one second battery and a second terminal of theat least one first battery 11.

According to an embodiment, the second portion 242 may be arranged toprevent contact between same terminals of the at least one first battery11 and the at least one second battery and to not interfere with contactbetween different terminals of the at least one first battery 11 and theat least one second battery.

For example, when the at least one first battery 11 is accommodated inthe first battery accommodating portion 210, the second portion 242 mayinclude curved areas 242 a and 242 b at a point corresponding to a firstterminal 11 a of the at least one first battery 11.

The curved areas 242 a and 242 b may be disposed not to contact thefirst terminal 11 a of the at least one first battery 11, and as aresult, the first terminal 11 a of the at least one first battery 11 maypass through the curved areas 242 a and 242 b of the second portion 242and may contact the second terminal of the at least one second battery.

Hereinafter, the function of the structure 240 according to an insertiondirection of the at least one first battery 11 is described in moredetail with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which abattery is properly inserted into a battery case of an electronic priceindicator according to an embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectionalview illustrating a state in which a battery is incorrectly insertedinto a battery case of an electronic price indicator according to anembodiment. Here, FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views of theelectronic price indicator 10 illustrated in FIG. 2, taken in a B-B′direction.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, a battery case 200 of an electronic priceindicator 10 according to an embodiment may include a first batteryaccommodating portion 210, a second battery accommodating portion 220, arib structure 221, a rail 230, and a structure 240. At least one ofcomponents of the electronic price indicator 10 according to anembodiment may be the same or substantially the same as at least one ofcomponents of the electronic price indicator 10 illustrated in FIGS. 2through 4, and hereinafter, the same descriptions are not given.

The rib structure 221 may protrude from an area of the second batteryaccommodating portion 220 and may prevent incorrect insertion of atleast one second battery 12. For example, the rib structure 221 may bedisposed to be adjacent to a terminal disposed on a side surface of thesecond battery accommodating portion 220, and when the at least onesecond battery 12 is inserted into the second battery accommodatingportion 220 in a wrong direction, may prevent contact between a secondterminal 12 b of the at least one second battery 12 and the terminal ofthe second battery accommodating portion 220.

However, when the at least one second battery 12 is inserted into thesecond battery accommodating portion 220 in a normal direction, a firstterminal 12 a of the at least one second battery 12 may protrude from anarea of the at least one second battery 12 in a direction toward theterminal of the second battery accommodating portion 220 and may contactthe terminal of the second battery accommodating portion 220.

That is, in the electronic price indicator 10 according to anembodiment, when the at least one second battery 12 is inserted into thesecond battery accommodating portion 220, the rib structure 221 mayallow the first terminal 12 a of the at least one second battery 12 tocontact the terminal of the second battery accommodating portion 220.

When the at least one first battery 11 is inserted into the firstbattery accommodating portion 210, or the at least one second battery 12is inserted into the second battery accommodating portion 220, thestructure 240 may move along the rail 230 between the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion220 and may prevent contact between same terminals of the at least onefirst battery 11 and the at least one second battery 12.

For example, the structure 240 may be arranged at a point at which theat least one first battery 11 and the at least one second battery 12touch each other to allow contact between different terminals of the atleast one first battery 11 and the at least one second battery 12 andnot to allow contact between same terminals of the at least one firstbattery 11 and the at least one second battery 12.

Referring to FIG. 5A, when the at least one first battery 11 and the atleast one second battery 12 are inserted into the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion220, respectively, in normal directions, a first terminal 11 a of the atleast one first battery 11 may pass through the structure 240 andcontact the second terminal 12 b of the at least one second battery 12.For example, the first terminal 11 a of the at least one first battery11 may protrude from an area of the at least one first battery 11 andmay pass by curved areas (for example, the curved areas 242 a and 242 bof FIG. 4) of the structure 240 and may contact the second terminal 12 bof the at least one second battery 12.

Referring to FIG. 5B, when the at least one first battery 11 isincorrectly inserted into the first battery accommodating portion 210,the structure 240 may prevent contact between a second terminal 11 b ofthe at least one first battery 11 and the second terminal 12 b of the atleast one second battery 12. For example, the structure 240 may bedisposed at a point at which the at least one first battery 11 and theat least one second battery 12 touch each other and may prevent contactbetween the second terminal 11 b of the at least one first battery 11and the second terminal 12 b of the at least one second battery 12.

That is, in the electronic price indicator 10 according to anembodiment, the structure 240 may allow contact between differentterminals of the at least one first battery 11 and the at least onesecond battery 12 and may prevent contact between same terminals of theat least one first battery 11 and the at least one second battery 12.Thus, safety incidents (for example, fire due to overheating) due toincorrect insertion of the first and second batteries 11 and 12 may beprevented.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a battery case 200 of an electronicprice indicator 10 according to another embodiment, and FIG. 7 is anenlarged view of an area of the electronic price indicator 10illustrated in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the electronic price indicator 10 accordingto another embodiment may include a housing 100 and the battery case 200disposed in an inner space of the housing 100 and accommodatingbatteries that are serially connected. The electronic price indicator 10according to another embodiment may correspond to the electronic priceindicator 10 of FIGS. 2 through 4, in which the first batteryaccommodating portion 210, the second battery accommodating portion 220,and the rail 230 have changed shapes, and hereinafter, the samedescriptions are not given.

The battery case 200 may be disposed in the inner space of the housing100 and may accommodate at least one battery for suppling power tocomponents of the electronic price indicator 10. For example, thebattery case 200 may accommodate batteries that are serially connected,and the serially connected batteries may supply power to the components(for example, the display 110 of FIG. 1) of the electronic priceindicator 10.

According to an embodiment, the battery case 200 may include a firstbattery accommodating portion 210, a second battery accommodatingportion 220, a rail 230, and a structure 240.

The first battery accommodating portion 210 may be disposed in an areaof the battery case 200 and may accommodate at least one first battery.For example, the first battery accommodating portion 210 may have ashape having a curvature corresponding to an outer circumferentialsurface of a battery and may accommodate at least one first battery.

The second battery accommodating portion 220 may be disposed in anotherarea of the battery case 200, which is apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 by a predetermined distance, and mayaccommodate at least one second battery. For example, the second batteryaccommodating portion 220 may be apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 in a longitudinal direction of the batterycase 200 and may accommodate the at least one second battery seriallyconnected with the at least one first battery.

According to an embodiment, the second battery accommodating portion 220may include a rib structure 221 for preventing incorrect insertion ofthe at least one second battery. The rib structure 221 may protrude froman area of the second battery accommodating portion 220 and may preventthe at least one second battery from being inserted in an oppositedirection. For example, the rib structure 221 may protrude from thesecond battery accommodating portion 220 and may allow contact between aterminal of the second battery accommodating portion 220 and a firstterminal (for example, a positive (+) terminal) of the at least onesecond battery and may prevent contact between the terminal of thesecond battery accommodating portion 220 and a second terminal (forexample, a negative (−) terminal) of the at least one second battery.

The rail 230 may be disposed between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion 220 and mayconnect a point of the first battery accommodating portion 210 with apoint of the second battery accommodating portion 220.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rail 230 may have the same heightas the first battery accommodating portion 210 and the second batteryaccommodating portion 220. For example, the first battery accommodatingportion 210, the second battery accommodating portion 220, and the rail230 may have the same height based on the battery case 200, and thus,there may be no step difference between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 and the rail 230 or between the second battery accommodatingportion 220 and the rail 230.

Because the first battery accommodating portion 210, the second batteryaccommodating portion 220, and the rail 230 may have the same height inthe electronic price indicator 10 according to another embodiment, aprocess of forming a step difference may be omitted in a manufacturingprocess of the battery case 200. That is, according to the electronicprice indicator 10 according to another embodiment, manufacturing costsmay be reduced, based on the structure described above.

The structure 240 may move along the rail 230 between the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion220 and may prevent contact between same terminals of the at least onefirst battery and the at least one second battery. For example, when theat least one first battery is accommodated in the first batteryaccommodating portion 210, and the at least one second battery isaccommodated in the second battery accommodating portion 220, thestructure 240 may be disposed at a point at which the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery touch each other, and mayprevent contact between same terminals of the at least one first batteryand the at least one second battery.

According to an embodiment, the structure 240 may include a firstportion 241 configured to slidingly move along the rail 230 and a secondportion 242 configured to protrude from an area of the first portion 241and prevent contact between same terminals of the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery.

The first portion 241 may be movably coupled to the rail 230, and whenthe at least one first battery is accommodated in the first batteryaccommodating portion 210, or the at least one second battery isaccommodated in the second battery accommodating portion 220, the firstportion 241 may slidingly move between the first battery accommodatingportion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion 220.

According to an embodiment, an area of the first portion 241, the areacontacting the at least one first battery and/or the at least one secondbattery, may have a shape having a predetermined curvature, and thus,the at least one first battery and/or the at least one second batterymay be accommodated in the first battery accommodating portion 210and/or the second battery accommodating portion 220 without beinginterfered with by the first portion 241.

The second portion 242 may be configured to protrude from an area of thefirst portion 241, and when the at least one first battery and/or the atleast one second battery are/is incorrectly inserted, may preventcontact between same terminals of the at least one first battery and theat least one second battery. For example, the second portion 242 may bedisposed at a point at which the at least one first battery and the atleast one second battery touch each other and may prevent contactbetween a second terminal (for example, a negative (−) terminal) of theat least one second battery and a second terminal of the at least onefirst battery.

The structure 240 may be arranged to prevent contact between sameterminals of the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery and to not interfere with contact between a first terminal ofthe at least one first battery and a second terminal of the at least onesecond battery, which is the opposite to a first terminal of the atleast one second battery.

According to an embodiment, the second portion 242 of the structure 240may include curved areas 242 a and 242 b formed at a point at which theat least one first battery and the at least one second battery toucheach other. The curved areas 242 a and 242 b may be disposed at an areaat which the first terminal of the at least one first battery and thesecond terminal of the at least one second battery touch each other, andthe first terminal of the at least one first battery and the secondterminal of the at least one second battery may contact each otherthrough the curved areas 242 a and 242 b.

That is, based on the structure described above, the structure 240 maynot interfere with serial connection between the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery, when the at least one firstbattery and the at least one second battery are inserted in a normaldirection.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a battery case 200 of an electronicprice indicator 10 according to another embodiment, and FIG. 9 is across-sectional view of the electronic price indicator 10 illustrated inFIG. 8, taken in a transverse direction. Here, FIG. 9 is across-sectional view of the electronic price indicator 10 of FIG. 8,taken in a C-C′ direction.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the electronic price indicator 10 accordingto another embodiment may include a housing 100 and the battery case 200disposed in an inner space of the housing 100 and accommodatingbatteries that are serially connected. The electronic price indicator 10according to another embodiment may correspond to the electronic priceindicator 10 of FIGS. 2 through 4, in which the rail 230 may have achanged arrangement structure and the structure 240 may have a changedshape, and hereinafter, the same descriptions are not given.

The battery case 200 may be disposed in the inner space of the housing100 and may accommodate at least one battery for supplying power tocomponents of the electronic price indicator 10. For example, thebattery case 200 may be disposed in an area of the housing 100 that isthe opposite to an area of the housing 100, in which a display (forexample, the display 110 of FIG. 1) is disposed, and may accommodate atleast one battery. However, the battery case 200 is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the battery case 200 may include a firstbattery accommodating portion 210, a second battery accommodatingportion 220, a rail 230, and a structure 240.

The first battery accommodating portion 210 may be disposed in an areaof the battery case 200 and may accommodate the at least one firstbattery. For example, the first battery accommodating portion 210 may beconfigured to a shape having a curvature corresponding to an outercircumferential surface of a battery and may accommodate the at leastone first battery.

The second battery accommodating portion 220 may be disposed in anotherarea of the battery case 200, which is apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 by a predetermined distance, and mayaccommodate at least one second battery. For example, the second batteryaccommodating portion 220 may be apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 in a longitudinal direction of the batterycase 200 and may accommodate the at least one second battery that isserially connected with the at least one first battery.

According to an embodiment, the second battery accommodating portion 220may include a rib structure 221 configured to prevent incorrectinsertion of the at least one second battery. The rib structure 221 mayprotrude from an area of the second battery accommodating portion 220and may prevent the at least one second battery from being inserted inan opposite direction. For example, the rib structure 221 may protrudefrom the second battery accommodating portion 220 and may allow contactbetween a terminal of the second battery accommodating portion 220 and afirst terminal (for example, a positive (+) terminal) of the at leastone second battery and may prevent contact between the terminal of thesecond battery accommodating portion 220 and a second terminal (forexample, a negative (−) terminal) of the at least one second battery.

The rail 230 may be disposed in an area of a side wall of the batterycase 200, and the structure 240 may slidingly move in the longitudinaldirection of the battery case 200 through the rail 230.

According to an embodiment, the rail 230 may include a groove (or arecess) formed in an area of the side wall of the battery case 200,disposed between the first battery accommodating portion 210 and thesecond battery accommodating portion 220. At least one area of thestructure 240 may be movably coupled to the rail 230, and then, mayslidingly move between the first battery accommodating portion 210 andthe second battery accommodating portion 220.

The structure 240 may move along the rail 230 between the first batteryaccommodating portion 210 and the second battery accommodating portion220 and may prevent contact between same terminals of at least one firstbattery 11 and at least one second battery (not shown) (for example, thesecond battery 12 of FIG. 5A).

According to an embodiment, the structure 240 may include a protrusion240 e protruding from an area of the structure 240 toward the rail 230.The protrusion 240 e may be movably inserted into or accommodated in therail 230 on the side wall of the battery case 200, and as the protrusion240 e moves along the rail 230, the structure 240 may slidingly movebetween the first battery accommodating portion 210 and the secondbattery accommodating portion 220.

When the at least one first battery 11 is accommodated in the firstbattery accommodating portion 210, and the at least one second batteryis accommodated in the second battery accommodating portion 220, thestructure 240 may be disposed at a point at which the at least one firstbattery 11 and the at least one second battery touch each other and mayprevent contact between same terminals of the at least one first battery11 and the at least one second battery.

For example, when the at least one first battery 11 and/or the at leastone second battery are/is incorrectly inserted, and thus, the sameterminals of the at least one first battery 11 and the at least onesecond battery contact each other, fire may occur due to overheating, orthe electronic price indicator 10 may mal-function or may be damaged.

The electronic price indicator 10 according to another embodiment mayprevent, by using the structure 240 moving along the rail 230, contactbetween same terminals of the at least one first battery 11 and the atleast one second battery, when the at least one first battery 11 and/orthe at least one second battery are/is incorrectly inserted. Thus,safety incidents or damage to the electronic price indicator 10 due tobattery incorrect insertion may be prevented.

The structure 240 may be arranged to prevent contact between sameterminals of the at least one first battery 11 and the at least onesecond battery and to not interfere with contact between a firstterminal 11 a of the at least one first battery 11 and a second terminalof the at least one second battery, which is the opposite to a firstterminal of the at least one second battery.

According to an embodiment, the structure 240 may include curved areas240 a and 240 b formed at a point at which the at least one firstbattery 11 and the at least one second battery touch each other. In thisdisclosure, the “curved areas 240 a and 240 b” may denote areas of thestructure 240 that are filleted to serially connect the first terminal11 a of the at least one first battery 11 with the second terminal ofthe at least one second battery, and the corresponding expression mayhave the same meaning, hereinafter.

The curved areas 240 a and 240 b may be arranged at an area at which thefirst terminal 11 a of the at least one first battery 11 and secondterminal of the at least one second battery touch each other not tocontact the first terminal 11 a of the at least one first battery 11.Thus, the first terminal 11 a protruding from an area of the at leastone first battery 11 may pass by the curved areas 240 a and 240 b andmay contact the second terminal of the at least one second battery. Thatis, when the at least one first battery 11 and the at least one secondbattery are inserted in a normal direction, the structure 240 may notinterfere with serial connection between the at least one first battery11 and the at least one second battery.

The electronic price indicator 10 according to another embodiment mayprevent, by using the structure 240 described above, contact betweensame terminals of the at last one first battery 11 and the at least onesecond battery, when the at least one first battery 11 and/or the atleast one second battery are/is incorrectly inserted. Thus, safetyincidents due to incorrect insertion may be effectively prevented.

The battery case and the electronic price indicator including the same,according to various embodiments, may prevent safety incidents caused byincorrect insertion of batteries.

Also, the battery case and the electronic price indicator including thesame, according to various embodiments, may prevent contact between sameterminals of batteries, regardless of sizes of the batteries.

The effects of embodiments are not limited to the effects describedabove, and the effects not mentioned may be clearly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art, from this specification and the accompanyingdrawings.

It should be understood that embodiments described herein should beconsidered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodimentshould typically be considered as available for other similar featuresor aspects in other embodiments. While one or more embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the figures, it will be understood by thoseof ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detailsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery case comprising: a first batteryaccommodating portion accommodating at least one first battery; a secondbattery accommodating portion arranged apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion and accommodating at least one second batteryserially connected with the at least one first battery; a rail arrangedbetween the first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion; and a structure configured to move along the railbetween the first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion and prevent contact between same terminals of theat least one first battery and the at least one second battery at apoint at which the at least one first battery and the at least onesecond battery touch each other.
 2. The battery case of claim 1, whereinthe rail is arranged to connect a point of the first batteryaccommodating portion with a point of the second battery accommodatingportion.
 3. The battery case of claim 2, wherein the first batteryaccommodating portion and the second battery accommodating portion havea first height, and the rail has a second height that is less than thefirst height, so that there is a step difference between the rail andthe first and second battery accommodating portions.
 4. The battery caseof claim 2, wherein the first and second battery accommodating portionsand the rail have a same height.
 5. The battery case of claim 2, whereinthe structure includes: a first portion configured to slidingly movealong the rail; and a second portion protruding from an area of thefirst portion and configured to prevent contact between same terminalsof the at least one first battery and the at least one second battery.6. The battery case of claim 2, wherein the first battery accommodatingportion, the rail, and the second battery accommodating portion areintegral with one another.
 7. The battery case of claim 1, wherein therail includes a groove extending along a side wall of the battery case.8. The battery case of claim 7, wherein the structure includes aprotrusion accommodated in the groove, and with the protrusion of thestructure slidingly moving along the groove, the structure moves betweenthe first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion.
 9. The battery case of claim 1, wherein thestructure is arranged to not interfere with contact between a firstterminal of the at least one first battery and a second terminal of theat least one second battery, the second terminal being opposite to thefirst terminal.
 10. The battery case of claim 9, wherein the structureincludes at least one curved area at the point at which the at least onefirst battery and the at least one second battery touch each other, andthe first terminal of the at least one first battery contacts the secondterminal of the at least one second battery through the at least onecurved area.
 11. The battery case of claim 1, wherein the second batteryaccommodating portion includes a rib structure configured to preventincorrect insertion of the at least one second battery.
 12. Anelectronic price indicator comprising: a housing; a display arranged onan outer circumferential surface of the housing and configured todisplay visual information; and a battery case arranged on at least onearea of the housing and accommodating a battery for supplying power tothe display, wherein the battery case includes: a first batteryaccommodating portion accommodating at least one first battery; a secondbattery accommodating portion arranged apart from the first batteryaccommodating portion and accommodating at least one second batteryserially connected with the at least one first battery; a rail arrangedbetween the first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion; and a structure configured to move along the railbetween the first battery accommodating portion and the second batteryaccommodating portion and configured to prevent contact between sameterminals of the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery at a point at which the at least one first battery and the atleast one second battery touch each other.
 13. The electronic priceindicator of claim 12, wherein the first battery accommodating portionand the second battery accommodating portion have a first height, andthe rail has a second height that is less than the first height, so thatthere is a step difference between the rail and the first and secondbattery accommodating portions.
 14. The electronic price indicator ofclaim 13, wherein the structure includes: a first portion configured toslidingly move along the rail; and a second portion protruding from anarea of the first portion and configured to prevent contact between sameterminals of the at least one first battery and the at least one secondbattery.
 15. The electronic price indicator of claim 14, wherein thesecond portion is arranged to not interfere with contact between a firstterminal of the at least one first battery and a second terminal of theat least one second battery, the second terminal being opposite to thefirst terminal.